I’m an identical twin, so with my sister’s wedding less than a year after mine – I was thrilled to help plan all of her wedding events just as lovely as she planned mine. A lot goes into planning a wedding shower, as those of you who have been through the process will know. These are my top tips for making sure the day is just as wonderful as the bride-to-be.

1. Choose a color and theme. While I’m not big on organized themes, I do think it’s important to choose a color scheme that matches the wedding. For my sister’s party, we chose gold with red & black accents, which matches the exact colors of her August wedding.
2. Decide on a menu. Instead of a wedding shower, we decided to call the day a bridal brunch, which set the tone for our menu. It’s important to have a mix of both breakfast and lunch items to satisfy each guest. And remember, you don’t want your event to turn into an overdone buffet – choose lighter food options to fit the group.
3. Stay classy with decorations. I designed a few different designs for the food selections at the shower – a Mimosa bar, Croissant bar & a Yogurt bar. The rich gold frames fit the theme perfectly. And with a few wine glasses filled with bright red roses, the scene was set.
4. Include a guest book. The day will fly by for the bride – choose a unique guest book that she’ll be able to keep the rest of her life. I bought a tin capital “L” to represent the bride’s new last name and had each guest sign with a paint marker.
5. Plan entertainment during the gift opening. Let’s face it, gift opening is oftentimes more stressful than it is fun for the bride. With all that pressure on one person, it’s important to plan games that will occupy guests during this extended period of time. For my sister’s brunch, I designed two games and placed them at each guest’s plate. That way they had something fun to focus on as she opened each gift. Plus, there were prizes for the winners.